When Family Shows Up: A Simple Day, A Powerful Reminder

This week, my family came together — not for a holiday, not for a crisis, but for something as ordinary as moving items in storage from one end of the city to the other.

On paper, it was nothing remarkable. No speeches, no photographs to mark the day, no big accomplishment to post about. But in my heart, it was an occassion that reminded me exactly why family is so important.

We were all tired and exhibiting various degrees of tiredness. Yet, at the scheduled time, everyone showed up — lifting boxes,  maneuvering furniture through narrow doorways, laughing at our lack of “professional mover” skills, and finding little ways to make the task easier for each other.

We even brought in some “extra muscle” — our sons aged 16, 18, and 21 — thinking that youthful energy would make the whole process go a lot faster. But nope! Let’s just say it added more character than speed. This however gave us plenty of laughs and reminded us that helping isn’t always about efficiency, rather sometimes it’s about being part of the collectivity.

It's not that the moving didn't matter, instead it was the unspoken understanding that we are there for one another — no matter how small or mundane the need. That kind of commitment isn’t born overnight. It’s built over years of showing up, of loving without condition, of keeping traditions of togetherness alive even when life pulls us in a myriad of different directions.

I realized, as we loaded the last box  that these are the moments that keep a family strong. It’s not always the big events or dramatic gestures — often, it’s the quiet, ordinary acts of support that weave the threads of unity tighter.

Love in a family is rarely about convenience. It’s about choosing to show up, again and again, even when you’re tired, stressed, or feeling under the weather. It’s about making sure no one ever has to feel alone in what they’re carrying — whether it’s a heavy box or a heavy heart.

And as if to test our patience and commitment, the day didn’t end when the last box was unloaded. We then spent over two and a half hours in traffic — crawling along the highway and making light of how ridiculous the traffic was. Even then, no one complained. We were together, and that was enough.

That day, we didn’t just move storage items. We moved together, as one. And in that simple act — traffic jams, slow-moving “helpers,” and all — we carried forward the tradition that has always been at the heart of my family: we show up for each other, always.

For in the end, family isn’t just who you’re related to. Family is the people who show up — tired, busy, stressed, or sick — and say, “You’re not doing this alone.”

Life will always have its chaos, its schedules, its endless to-do lists. But years from now, it won’t be the deadlines or the errands we remember — it will be the moments we stood together. Because in the end, love and unity are two things worth carrying through the traffic of life.

• Jackie Denise